The limits of God (hudud Allah)

حدود الله

Al-Sha'rawi reads the 'limits of God' in inheritance, marriage and other rulings as separators that stop one right from merging with another or with wrong. He distinguishes an ownership limit, which must not be crossed, from a neighbourly limit, which prevents harm, and a command, which must not be exceeded, from a prohibition, which must not be approached 123.

Depth

At a glance

Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Scripture and its sciences

Summary

Al-Sha'rawi reads the "limits of God" in inheritance, marriage and other rulings as separators that stop one right from merging with another, or with wrong. 1

Ownership limit and neighbourly limit

He separates a limit that must not be crossed in ownership from a limit set to prevent harm to a neighbour, such as leaving a gap in one's land so that water does not reach a neighbour's field. 2

Command and prohibition

He says that "these are the limits of God, do not transgress them" concerns commands, and "do not approach them" concerns prohibitions, so a prohibition is kept by staying away from its occasions. 23

Not checked here

This entry is mainly exegetical, and no specific juristic disagreement is set out in these pages.

People and things also explored

The seven ahruf· Hadith· Shama'il Muhammadiyya· The Prophetic sira· The Prophetic Sunna· Command, prohibition and capacity· The Sunna as explanation of the Qur'an· Bid'a (religious innovation)

Sources

  1. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2036
  2. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2037
  3. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2038
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The limits of God (hudud Allah)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/hudud-allah/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

Improve this page on GitHub · Report an error · JSON

Wing

Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words.
Related

The seven ahruf

The Prophet's saying 'the Qur'an was revealed in seven ahruf, so read of it what is easy' — narrated through Umar's dispute with Hisham ibn Hakim over Surat al-Furqan; its exact meaning is one of the widest debates in Qur'anic sciences.